• Burmese
Thursday, July 10, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion Guest Column

Five Lessons for the World from COVID-19 

Joe Kumbun by Joe Kumbun
April 7, 2020
in Guest Column
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0 0
A A
A local priest blesses coffins that have been piling up in a church, due to a high number of deaths, before they are taken away by military trucks as Italy struggles to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Seriate, Italy on March 28. / Reuters

A local priest blesses coffins that have been piling up in a church, due to a high number of deaths, before they are taken away by military trucks as Italy struggles to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Seriate, Italy on March 28. / Reuters

5.9k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The coronavirus has infected over a million people and taken thousands of people’s lives, due primarily to flawed governance and weak coordination among nations. The infection rate and death toll continue to rise—a catastrophe born of our failures and lack of preparation.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic is also a wakeup call for the world to reassess its governance systems and its priorities around innovation, as well as ethical and moral questions. The pandemic has already given the world five bitter lessons.

#1: Reassess the Balance of Military and Health Expenditures

RelatedPosts

Myanmar Junta Deploying Conscripts in Major Push to Reclaim Lost Territory

Myanmar Junta Deploying Conscripts in Major Push to Reclaim Lost Territory

July 10, 2025
221
Making Connections in Myanmar’s Fractured State

Making Connections in Myanmar’s Fractured State

July 4, 2025
2.1k
Cambodia’s Hun Sen Accuses Thai PM of ‘Insulting King’

Cambodia’s Hun Sen Accuses Thai PM of ‘Insulting King’

June 27, 2025
917

Almost every nation spends billions of dollars on its military. Nations compete to build weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), including nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and military vehicles ranging from drones to aircraft carriers.

As world leaders zero in on this security competition, it has led to the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union and is now surfacing again in tensions between the United States and China.

The combined military expenditure of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) permanent members is more than a trillion dollars. If this amount were invested instead in healthcare, millions of people would see the benefits in terms of preventing and combating disease. Similarly, in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), some countries spend more on their militaries than they do on health care.

Many of these countries now rely on donations to fight the coronavirus, including financial aid and equipment like virus testing machines, from foreign countries and the World Health Organization. Private banks, companies and individuals have to donate medical supplies such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and masks as well as money to support these governments to combat the virus.

Most countries spend billions of dollars annually on their military capabilities but such powers can do little to combat the pandemic. COVID-19 has already shown the world’s leaders they must reassess their choices to spend more on their militaries than on health.

#2: Strengthen Coordination

The number of COVID-19 cases and the pandemic’s death toll worldwide show a failure of coordination among countries.

Since Donald Trump began pursuing his ‘American First’ foreign policy agenda, many experts have argued that multilateralism is dead. The impacts of weak coordination among nations have been clear in the efforts to fight terrorist groups like ISIS and combat wildfires in the Brazilian Amazon and Australia.

The outbreak of COVID-19 is only the tip of the iceberg. There are a plethora of lingering challenges such as transnational terrorism, climate change, natural disasters and other diseases. It is crucial for the world to learn its lesson and strengthen coordination among nations to address future challenges.

#3: Future of Technology 

Developed countries have spent billions on exploring the unknown, beyond our geographical boundaries. These efforts range from biological engineering and the Internet to smart cars, quantum computing and autonomous weapons systems.

Some technological advances are helpful in preventing and combating COVID-19. In Italy, for example, doctors used robots to check the pulses of highly infectious patients on life support. But the future of technology, for instance the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), must focus more on designs that support humans, rather than bringing destruction.

#4: Refrain from Unethical and Immoral Behavior

The origins of COVID-19 are hotly contested. Some claim that COVID-19 originated with animals at a wet market in China’s Wuhan city. Some people eat wild animals such as bats, pangolins, tapirs and snakes, and there have been claims that these animals transferred the virus to humans. On the other hand, China has accused US military delegates of bringing the virus to Wuhan when the city hosted the Military World Games in October 2019. There is another conspiracy theory that China designed the virus as a biological weapon and it was mistakenly released from the lab.

Whether or not these theories are true, any country that develops biological weapons must scrap these plans immediately. Likewise, China must give up its appetite for wildlife. Both of these pursuits are unethical and immoral, and if humans continue with these sorts of activities, we will suffer from more deadly and contagious diseases in the future.

#5: Prepare for the Future

The COVID-19 pandemic also gives the world a lesson on how to prepare for future challenges. The world has sufficient time to zero in on innovations that can predict, prevent and mitigate crises, disasters and diseases before they happen. Based on the lessons from COVID-19, the world must initiate a global platform to design effective, realistic and coordinated plans for future generations.

If we learn the lessons of the pandemic, we will be like the ant that spends the summer saving food for the winter—prepared for what comes. But if we fail to learn the lessons, we will be like the grasshopper that dies in the winter.

Joe Kumbun is the pseudonym of an analyst based in Kachin State. He can be reached at [email protected].

You may also like these stories:

Myanmar Public Overwhelmingly Backs Crackdown on Wildlife Markets to Prevent Pandemics: Survey

Myanmar Reports 22nd COVID-19 Case

Your Thoughts …
Tags: BudgetcoronavirusCOVID-19MilitaryTechnology
Joe Kumbun

Joe Kumbun

Contributor

Similar Picks:

AA Urges Myanmar Junta Troops to Surrender as Western Command Burns
War Against the Junta

AA Urges Myanmar Junta Troops to Surrender as Western Command Burns

by The Irrawaddy
December 18, 2024
25.4k

Ethnic army reportedly poised to capture regime’s last stronghold in Rakhine State.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar General in Charge of Shan State Disaster Handed Surprise Promotion
Burma

Myanmar General in Charge of Shan State Disaster Handed Surprise Promotion

by The Irrawaddy
February 5, 2024
24.5k

Naing Naing Oo elevated to Lieutenant-General and made chief of powerful Bureau of Special Operations No. 2, in a reshuffle...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar’s Chief of Eastern Command Purged After Karenni Defeats
Burma

Myanmar’s Chief of Eastern Command Purged After Karenni Defeats

by The Irrawaddy
January 12, 2024
20.1k

Major-General Hla Moe is reportedly the latest junta commander to pay the price for sweeping gains made by resistance forces. 

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Counteroffensives Failing Across Country: Analysts
Analysis

Myanmar Junta Counteroffensives Failing Across Country: Analysts

by Hein Htoo Zan
September 20, 2024
16.8k

Three major operations to retake territory from ethnic armies and their allies are being hampered by troop shortages, experts say.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Orders All Security Personnel to Frontline as Losses Mount in Hard-Hit Regional Commands
Burma

Myanmar Junta Orders All Security Personnel to Frontline as Losses Mount in Hard-Hit Regional Commands

by The Irrawaddy
May 31, 2024
13.5k

Full-time military service order covers soldiers, personnel, police and border guards in eight regional commands.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Begins Forced Conscription of Women in Some Areas, Residents Say
Burma

Myanmar Junta Begins Forced Conscription of Women in Some Areas, Residents Say

by Hein Htoo Zan
May 31, 2024
13.5k

The regime is selecting women from lists of eligible conscripts and building barracks for them in Ayeyarwady; in Bago, women...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
The Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (center). / Htet Wai / The Irrawaddy

Myanmar’s Military Donates Wages to COVID-19 Fight

Yangon General Hospital's emergency department is prepared to serve as a COVID-19 patient receiving center. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

“We Have a Couple of People who are Recovering”: MOHS Director-General

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

37 Years and Counting: Why Has Myanmar’s Democracy Struggle Taken So Long?

37 Years and Counting: Why Has Myanmar’s Democracy Struggle Taken So Long?

1 week ago
1.4k
China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

2 days ago
778

Most Read

  • Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

    Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta’s Top Russian Arms Supplier Tosses in Quake ‘Donation’

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.